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Numerical and experimental estimation of global gas holdup in a bubble column using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

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Abstract

Bubble column bioreactors can provide adequate heat and mass transfer, rapid mixing and good suspension of solids. The influence of the lift force in square cross-sectional bubble columns is being studied in order to evaluate its importance in CFD simulations. In this work, the global gas holdup (\({\overline{\alpha }}_{\mathrm{G}})\) was analyzed experimentally and numerically using CFD. Euler–Euler model was applied for the gas–liquid multiphase simulations. Different specific air flow rates (1.0–5.0 vvm) were simulated in order to evaluate the inclusion of lift interfacial force in the modeling and the effect of air flow rate in this analysis. The simulations considering lift force effect showed greater agreement between the experimental data and those estimated by computational fluid dynamics, with the highest values of \({\overline{\alpha }}_{\mathrm{G}}\) found for the higher specific air flow rate (5 vvm) and the minor bubble diameter (4 mm) analyzed in this study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES—Finance Code 001), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP—grant 2018/24460-4) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq—grants 141149/2020-5 and 309728/2021-5) for their financial support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

    A. C. B. Silva, R. D. Pereira, A. C. Badino & R. Bettega

  2. Federal Institute of São Paulo, Capivari Campus, Capivari, São Paulo, Brazil

    M. N. Esperança

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  1. A. C. B. Silva
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  2. M. N. Esperança
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  3. R. D. Pereira
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  4. A. C. Badino
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  5. R. Bettega
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Correspondence to R. Bettega.

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Technical Editor: Dirceu Noriler.

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Silva, A.C.B., Esperança, M.N., Pereira, R.D. et al. Numerical and experimental estimation of global gas holdup in a bubble column using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, 531 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04433-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04433-1

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